Measurement method, configuration method, related device, and system

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present invention disclose a measurement method, including: acquiring, by user equipment, a status of using a target unlicensed frequency band by a target radio access technology RAT; and selecting, by the user equipment, a corresponding measurement mode according to the usage status to measure a radio condition of the target unlicensed frequency band. The embodiments of the present invention further disclose user equipment, a network device, and a system.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/299,334, filed on Mar. 12, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/217,452, filed on Jul. 22, 2016, now U.S.Pat. No. 10,244,415, which is a continuation of InternationalApplication No. PCT/CN2014/071335, filed on Jan. 24, 2014. All of theafore-mentioned patent applications are hereby incorporated by referencein their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the communications field, and inparticular, to a measurement method, a configuration method, relateddevices, and a system.

BACKGROUND

With rapid development of a packet service and intelligent terminals, ahigh-speed service with a large data volume has an increasingrequirement for spectrums. According to the latest-released FCCinternational spectrum white paper, unlicensed spectrum resources aremore than licensed spectrum resources. An unlicensed spectrum includesfrequency bands used for devices for industrial, scientific, and medical(ISM) purposes, and the like. For example, there are three frequencybands: 902 to 928 MHz, 2400 to 2484.5 MHz, and 5725 to 5850 MHz in theUnited States, and 2.4 GHz is a common ISM band for all counties. Maintechnologies used in the ISM band are Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), which isalso referred to as a wireless local area network (WLAN, wireless localnetwork), Bluetooth, ZigBee, and the like. WiFi is based on standards inthe Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11family, for example, 802.11a, 802.11n, 802.11ac. WiFi has low efficiencyin aspects such as quality of service (QoS) and multi-user scheduling,and has a limited mobility management function. Therefore, by applying aLong Term Evolution (LTE) system of the 3rd Generation PartnershipProject (3GPP) to the unlicensed spectrum, the licensed spectrumresources can be used more efficiently, and spectrum bandwidth availableto an LTE user can be increased. Not only the ISM band is used, but alicensed frequency band may also be shared in LTE in an authorizedshared access (ASA, authorized shared access; or LSA, licensed sharedaccess) manner, for example, by using a television white space (TVWS).In this case, an authorized user takes priority over a secondary user,that is, an unauthorized user that shares the licensed frequency band.

The prior art mainly describes, from aspects such as an architecture,signaling, and spectrum coordination, a basic solution framework and abasic process in which multiple RATs share unlicensed spectrum usageinformation by using a CPC, but does not disclose a technology of how aRAT supports an unlicensed spectrum and a method of how a RAT detectsand measures an unlicensed spectrum.

SUMMARY

A technical problem to be resolved by embodiments of the presentinvention is to provide a measurement method, a configuration method,user equipment, a network device, and a communications system. The userequipment can accurately measure a radio condition of an unlicensedfrequency band, so as to provide reference information for the networkdevice to schedule the user equipment.

To achieve the foregoing objective, a first aspect of the presentinvention provides a measurement method, including: acquiring, by userequipment, a status of using a target unlicensed frequency band by atarget radio access technology RAT; and selecting, by the userequipment, a corresponding measurement mode according to the usagestatus to measure a radio condition of the target unlicensed frequencyband.

With reference to the first aspect, in a first possible implementationmanner, the step of selecting, by the user equipment, a correspondingmeasurement mode according to the usage status to measure a radiocondition of the target unlicensed frequency band includes: if the userequipment determines that the target RAT already occupies the targetunlicensed frequency band, selecting a first measurement mode to measurethe radio condition of the target unlicensed frequency band, where thefirst measurement mode indicates measurement performed based on areference signal, a synchronization signal, or system information of thetarget RAT; or if the user equipment determines that the target RAT doesnot occupy the target unlicensed frequency band, selecting a secondmeasurement mode to measure the radio condition of the target unlicensedfrequency band, where the second measurement mode indicates measurementperformed based on physical measurement, spectrum analysis, or spectrumsensing for the target unlicensed frequency band.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a second possible implementation manner, the target RAT is acellular radio access technology, and the step of selecting a firstmeasurement mode to measure the radio condition of the target unlicensedfrequency band includes: selecting, by the user equipment, the firstmeasurement mode to measure the radio condition of the target unlicensedfrequency band of a serving cell and/or a neighboring cell, wherefrequencies of the serving cell and the neighboring cell are the targetunlicensed frequency band.

With reference to the second possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a third possible implementation manner, the step ofacquiring, by user equipment, a status of using a target unlicensedfrequency band by a target RAT includes: receiving, by the userequipment, status indication information sent by a serving base station,where the status indication information is used to indicate the statusof using the target unlicensed frequency band by the target RAT; andparsing, by the user equipment, the status indication information, so asto obtain the status of using the target unlicensed frequency band bythe target RAT; or specifying, by the user equipment, a subframe in apreset radio frame, so as to detect the status of using the unlicensedfrequency band by the target RAT.

With reference to the third possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner, before the step ofacquiring, by user equipment, a status of using an unlicensed frequencyband by a target RAT, the method further includes: receiving, by theuser equipment, measurement configuration information sent by theserving base station, and configuring the first measurement mode and thesecond measurement mode according to the measurement configurationinformation.

With reference to the fourth possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner, the method furtherincludes: if a preset trigger condition is met, reporting, by the userequipment, a measurement result including the radio condition to theserving base station.

With reference to the fourth or the fifth possible implementation mannerof the first aspect, in a sixth possible implementation manner, theserving base station is a secondary eNodeB SeNB, and the step ofreporting, by the user equipment, a measurement result including theradio condition to the serving base station includes: reporting, by theuser equipment, the measurement result including the radio condition tothe SeNB, so that the SeNB reports the measurement result to a mastereNodeB MeNB to which the SeNB belongs.

With reference to the fourth or the fifth possible implementation mannerof the first aspect, in a seventh possible implementation manner, theuser equipment performs filtering or averaging processing on radioconditions obtained by means of multiple times of measurement in thefirst measurement mode or the second measurement mode, and reports theradio condition obtained after the filtering or averaging processing tothe serving base station.

A second aspect of the present invention provides a measurementconfiguration aspect, including: sending, by a network device,measurement configuration information to user equipment, where themeasurement configuration information is used to instruct the userequipment to configure a first measurement mode and a second measurementmode.

With reference to the second aspect, in a first possible implementationmanner, the method further includes: measuring, by the network device, astatus of using a target unlicensed frequency band by a target RAT; andsending, by the network device, status indication information to theuser equipment, where the status indication information is used toindicate the status of using the target unlicensed frequency band by thetarget RAT.

With reference to the second aspect, in a second possible implementationmanner, the method further includes: if the network device determinesthat the target RAT already occupies the target unlicensed frequencyband, instructing the user equipment to select the first measurementmode to measure a radio condition of the target unlicensed frequencyband; or if the network device determines that the target RAT does notoccupy the target unlicensed frequency band, instructing the userequipment to select the second measurement mode to measure a radiocondition of the target unlicensed frequency band.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, in a third possible implementation manner, the method furtherincludes: if the network device determines that the target RAT alreadyoccupies the target unlicensed frequency band, measuring, by the networkdevice, the radio condition of the target unlicensed frequency bandbased on an uplink reference signal of the user equipment; or if theuser equipment determines that the target RAT does not occupy the targetunlicensed frequency band, measuring, by the network device, the radiocondition of the target unlicensed frequency band based on physicalmeasurement, spectrum analysis, or spectrum sensing for the targetunlicensed frequency band.

With reference to the third possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner, the target RAT is acellular radio access technology, and the method further includes:receiving, by the network device, a measurement result that includesradio conditions of a serving cell and a neighboring cell and that isreported by the user equipment, and scheduling the user equipmentaccording to the measurement result.

A third aspect of the present invention provides user equipment,including: an acquiring module, configured to acquire a status of usinga target unlicensed frequency band by a target radio access technologyRAT; and a measurement module, configured to select a correspondingmeasurement mode according to the usage status to measure a radiocondition of the target unlicensed frequency band.

With reference to the third aspect, in a first possible implementationmanner, the measurement module includes: a first measurement module,configured to: if it is determined that the target RAT already occupiesthe target unlicensed frequency band, select a first measurement mode tomeasure the radio condition of the target unlicensed frequency band,where the first measurement mode indicates measurement performed basedon a reference signal, a synchronization signal, or system informationof the target RAT; and a second measurement unit, configured to: if itis determined that the target RAT does not occupy the target unlicensedfrequency band, select a second measurement mode to measure the radiocondition of the target unlicensed frequency band, where the secondmeasurement mode indicates measurement performed based on physicalmeasurement, spectrum analysis, or spectrum sensing for the targetunlicensed frequency band.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the thirdaspect, in a second possible implementation manner, the target RAT is acellular radio access technology, and the first measurement unit isconfigured to: select the first measurement mode to measure the radiocondition of the target unlicensed frequency band of a serving celland/or a neighboring cell, where frequencies of the serving cell and theneighboring cell are the target unlicensed frequency band.

With reference to the second possible implementation manner of the thirdaspect, in a third possible implementation manner, the acquiring moduleincludes: a first acquiring unit, configured to: receive statusindication information sent by a serving base station, where the statusindication information is used to indicate the status of using thetarget unlicensed frequency band by the target RAT; and parse the statusindication information, so as to obtain the status of using the targetunlicensed frequency band by the target RAT; and/or a second acquiringunit, configured to specify a subframe in a preset radio frame, so as todetect the status of using the unlicensed frequency band by the targetRAT.

With reference to the third possible implementation manner of the thirdaspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner, the user equipmentfurther includes: a configuration module, configured to receivemeasurement configuration information sent by the serving base station,and configure the first measurement mode and the second measurement modeaccording to the measurement configuration information.

With reference to the fourth possible implementation manner of the thirdaspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner, the user equipmentfurther includes: a reporting module, configured to: if a preset triggercondition is met, report a measurement result including the radiocondition to the serving base station.

With reference to the fourth or the fifth possible implementation mannerof the third aspect, in a sixth possible implementation manner, theserving base station is a secondary eNodeB SeNB, and the reportingmodule is configured to: report the measurement result including theradio condition to the SeNB, so that the SeNB reports the measurementresult to a master eNodeB MeNB to which the SeNB belongs.

With reference to the fourth or the fifth possible implementation mannerof the third aspect, in a seventh possible implementation manner, thereporting module is configured to: perform filtering or averagingprocessing on radio conditions obtained by means of multiple times ofmeasurement in the first measurement mode or the second measurementmode, and report the radio condition obtained after the filtering oraveraging processing to the serving base station.

A fourth aspect of the present invention provides a network device,including: a first module, configured to send measurement configurationinformation to user equipment, where the measurement configurationinformation is used to instruct the user equipment to configure a firstmeasurement mode and a second measurement mode.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in a first possible implementationmanner, the network device further includes: a second module, configuredto: measure a status of using a target unlicensed frequency band by atarget RAT; and send status indication information to the userequipment, where the status indication information is used to indicatethe status of using the target unlicensed frequency band by the targetRAT.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in a second possible implementationmanner, the network device further includes: a third module, configuredto: if it is determined that the target RAT already occupies the targetunlicensed frequency band, instruct the user equipment to select thefirst measurement mode to measure a radio condition of the targetunlicensed frequency band; or if it is determined that the target RATdoes not occupy the target unlicensed frequency band, instruct the userequipment to select the second measurement mode to measure a radiocondition of the target unlicensed frequency band.

With reference to the second possible implementation manner of thefourth aspect, in a third possible implementation manner, the networkdevice further includes: a fourth module, configured to: if it isdetermined that the target RAT already occupies the target unlicensedfrequency band, measure the radio condition of the target unlicensedfrequency band based on an uplink reference signal of the userequipment; or if it is determined that the target RAT does not occupythe target unlicensed frequency band, measure the radio condition of thetarget unlicensed frequency band based on physical measurement, spectrumanalysis, or spectrum sensing for the target unlicensed frequency band.

With reference to the third possible implementation manner of the fourthaspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner, the target RAT is acellular radio access technology, and the network device furtherincludes: a fifth module, configured to: receive a measurement resultthat includes radio conditions of a serving cell and a neighboring celland that is reported by the user equipment, and schedule the userequipment according to the measurement result.

A fifth aspect of the present invention provides user equipment,including a processor and a memory, where the memory stores a set ofprogram code, and the processor is configured to invoke the program codestored in the memory to perform the following operations: acquiring astatus of using a target unlicensed frequency band by a target radioaccess technology RAT; and selecting a corresponding measurement modeaccording to the usage status to measure a radio condition of the targetunlicensed frequency band.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in a first possible implementationmanner, that the processor performs the step of selecting acorresponding measurement mode according to the usage status to measurea radio condition of the target unlicensed frequency band includes: ifit is determined that the target RAT already occupies the targetunlicensed frequency band, selecting a first measurement mode to measurethe radio condition of the target unlicensed frequency band, where thefirst measurement mode indicates measurement performed based on areference signal, a synchronization signal, or system information of thetarget RAT; or if it is determined that the target RAT does not occupythe target unlicensed frequency band, selecting a second measurementmode to measure the radio condition of the target unlicensed frequencyband, where the second measurement mode indicates measurement performedbased on physical measurement, spectrum analysis, or spectrum sensingfor the target unlicensed frequency band.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the fifthaspect, in a second possible implementation manner, the target RAT is acellular radio access technology, and that the processor performs thestep of selecting a first measurement mode to measure the radiocondition of the target unlicensed frequency band includes: selectingthe first measurement mode to measure the radio condition of the targetunlicensed frequency band of a serving cell and/or a neighboring cell,where frequencies of the serving cell and the neighboring cell are thetarget unlicensed frequency band.

With reference to the second possible implementation manner of the fifthaspect, in a third possible implementation manner, that the processorperforms the step of acquiring a status of using a target unlicensedfrequency band by a target RAT includes: receiving status indicationinformation sent by a serving base station, where the status indicationinformation is used to indicate the status of using the targetunlicensed frequency band by the target RAT; and parsing the statusindication information, so as to obtain the status of using the targetunlicensed frequency band by the target RAT; or specifying a subframe ina preset radio frame, so as to detect the status of using the unlicensedfrequency band by the target RAT.

With reference to the third possible implementation manner of the fifthaspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner, the processor isfurther configured to perform: receiving measurement configurationinformation sent by the serving base station, and configuring the firstmeasurement mode and the second measurement mode according to themeasurement configuration information.

With reference to the fourth possible implementation manner of the fifthaspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner, the processor isfurther configured to perform: if a preset trigger condition is met,reporting a measurement result including the radio condition to theserving base station.

With reference to the fourth or the fifth possible implementation mannerof the fifth aspect, in a sixth possible implementation manner, theserving base station is a secondary eNodeB SeNB, and that the processorperforms the step of reporting a measurement result including the radiocondition to the serving base station includes: reporting, by the userequipment, the measurement result including the radio condition to theSeNB, so that the SeNB reports the measurement result to a master eNodeBMeNB to which the SeNB belongs.

With reference to the fourth or the fifth possible implementation mannerof the fifth aspect, in a sixth possible implementation manner, that theprocessor performs the step of reporting a measurement result includingthe radio condition to the serving base station includes: performingfiltering or averaging processing on radio conditions obtained by meansof multiple times of measurement in the first measurement mode or thesecond measurement mode, and reporting the radio condition obtainedafter the filtering or averaging processing to the serving base station.

A sixth aspect of the present invention provides a network device,including a processor and a memory, where the memory stores a set ofprogram code, and the processor is configured to invoke the program codestored in the memory to perform the following operation: sendingmeasurement configuration information to user equipment, where themeasurement configuration information is used to instruct the userequipment to configure a first measurement mode and a second measurementmode.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in a first possible implementationmanner, the processor is further configured to perform: measuring astatus of using a target unlicensed frequency band by a target RAT; andsending status indication information to the user equipment, where thestatus indication information is used to indicate the status of usingthe target unlicensed frequency band by the target RAT.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in a second possible implementationmanner, the processor is further configured to perform: if it isdetermined that the target RAT already occupies the target unlicensedfrequency band, instructing the user equipment to select the firstmeasurement mode to measure a radio condition of the target unlicensedfrequency band; or if it is determined that the target RAT does notoccupy the target unlicensed frequency band, instructing the userequipment to select the second measurement mode to measure a radiocondition of the target unlicensed frequency band.

With reference to the second possible implementation manner of the sixthaspect, in a third possible implementation manner, the processor isfurther configured to perform: if it is determined that the target RATalready occupies the target unlicensed frequency band, measuring theradio condition of the target unlicensed frequency band based on anuplink reference signal of the user equipment; or if it is determinedthat the target RAT does not occupy the target unlicensed frequencyband, measuring the radio condition of the target unlicensed frequencyband based on physical measurement, spectrum analysis, or spectrumsensing for the target unlicensed frequency band.

With reference to the third possible implementation manner of the sixthaspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner, the processor isfurther configured to perform: receiving a measurement result thatincludes radio conditions of a serving cell and a neighboring cell andthat is reported by the user equipment, and scheduling the userequipment according to the measurement result.

A seventh aspect of the present invention provides a communicationssystem, including any one of the foregoing user equipment or networkdevice.

In the embodiments of the present invention, user equipment acquires astatus of using a target unlicensed frequency band by a target radioaccess technology RAT, and selects a different measurement modeaccording to the usage status to measure a radio condition of the targetunlicensed frequency band, so that the user equipment can accuratelymeasure the radio condition of the target unlicensed frequency band, soas to provide reference information for a network device to schedule theuser equipment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the presentinvention more clearly, the following briefly describes the accompanyingdrawings required for describing the embodiments. Apparently, theaccompanying drawings in the following description show merely someembodiments of the present invention, and a person of ordinary skill inthe art may still derive other drawings from these accompanying drawingswithout creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic flowchart of a measurement method according to afirst embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a measurement method according to asecond embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of user equipment according toa first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of user equipment according toa second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of an acquiring module in FIG.4;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a measurement module in FIG.4;

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of user equipment according toa third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic flowchart of a measurement configuration methodaccording to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic flowchart of a measurement configuration methodaccording to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device accordingto a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device accordingto a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device accordingto a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of interworking of a communications systemaccording to a first embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of interworking of a communications systemaccording to a second embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

The following clearly describes the technical solutions in theembodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanyingdrawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Apparently, thedescribed embodiments are merely some but not all of the embodiments ofthe present invention. All other embodiments obtained by a person ofordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the presentinvention without creative efforts shall fall within the protectionscope of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is a schematic flowchart of a measurementmethod according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In thisembodiment, the method includes the following steps.

S101. User equipment acquires a status of using a target unlicensedfrequency band by a target radio access technology RAT.

Specifically, the user equipment supports at least one radio accesstechnology (RAT). For example, radio access technologies RATs includeany 2G, 3G, 4G, or higher generation communications technology such as aLong Term Evolution (LTE) radio access technology, a Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS) radio access technology, Global Systemfor Mobile Communications (GSM) radio access, or Code Division MultipleAccess 2000 (CDMA2000) radio access, and different variations thereof,and any other radio access technologies that are set to interact withsuch mobile communications technology.

The radio access technology may include a WLAN radio access technology,for example, a radio access technology of protocols in the IEEE 802.11family and a Bluetooth radio access technology; or may include a WiMaxradio access technology, for example, a radio access technology ofprotocols in the IEEE 802.16 family.

The target radio access technology RAT refers to a radio accesstechnology that currently uses the target unlicensed frequency band. Anunlicensed frequency band refers to a frequency band that is notallocated by a spectrum management authority to a designated radioaccess technology and that can be used by multiple radio accesstechnologies. Because the multiple radio access technologies can sharethe unlicensed frequency band, before using the unlicensed frequencyband, any radio access technology needs to first probe whether anotherradio access technology occupies the unlicensed frequency band, and theunlicensed frequency band can be used for communication only when theunlicensed frequency band is in an idle state. The target unlicensedfrequency band is a part of or the entire unlicensed frequency band, andmay include multiple frequency ranges. Different frequency ranges may beindicated by using channel numbers. A method for probing the usagestatus of the unlicensed frequency band may be a method such as probingby the user equipment, probing by a network device, probing incollaboration, which is not limited in the present invention. The userequipment acquires the status of using the target unlicensed frequencyband by the target radio access technology RAT, and the usage status isclassified into two types, where a first type of usage status is thatthe target RAT already occupies the target unlicensed frequency band,and a second type of usage status is that the target RAT does not occupythe target unlicensed frequency band. When the target RAT alreadyoccupies the target unlicensed frequency band, a network device of thetarget RAT sends characteristic information of the target RAT, forexample, a downlink synchronization signal, a downlink reference signal,a downlink pilot signal, a downlink beacon, or downlink systeminformation on the unlicensed frequency band. User equipment thatsupports the target RAT detects the foregoing signal on the targetunlicensed frequency band. For example, when the target RAT is LTE, anLTE base station sends a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and asecondary synchronization signal (SSS), a cell-specific reference signal(CRS), a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), and/or ademodulation reference signal (DMRS). If the target RAT does not occupythe target unlicensed frequency band, a network device of the target RATdoes not send a synchronization signal, a reference signal, or systeminformation on the unlicensed frequency band, and the user equipmentcannot detect the foregoing signal either.

S102. The user equipment selects a corresponding measurement modeaccording to the usage status of the target unlicensed frequency band tomeasure a radio condition of the target unlicensed frequency band.

Specifically, a mapping table of a mapping relationship between ameasurement mode and a usage status is preconfigured for the userequipment, and in the mapping table, each type of usage status isassociated with at least one measurement mode. The user equipmentqueries the mapping table for the corresponding measurement modeaccording to the status of using the target unlicensed frequency band bythe target RAT, where the status is acquired in S101, and measures theradio condition of the target unlicensed frequency band.

A first measurement mode for measuring the radio condition of the targetunlicensed frequency band is based on the characteristic information ofthe target RAT. For example, when the target RAT is an LTE system,measurement performed by the user equipment based on a reference signalsuch as a CRS, a CSI-RS, and/or a DMRS of LTE may include radio resourcemanagement (RRM) measurement and channel state information (CSI)measurement. The RRM measurement may be measurement performed based onreference signal received power (RSRP) and reference signal receivedquality (RSRQ) of the CRS, the CSI-RS, and/or the DMRS. The CSImeasurement includes a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precodingmatrix indication (PMI), a rank indication (RI), and the like.

A second measurement mode for measuring the radio condition of thetarget unlicensed frequency band is related measurement or detectionthat is based on physical measurement, spectrum analysis, spectrumsensing, or the like for the target unlicensed frequency band, forexample, measurement such as physical layer energy detection (energysensing or energy detection), covariance matrix detection, matchedfiltering detection, cyclostationary feature detection, eigenvalue-basedspectrum sensing, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI),interference measurement, a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), a signal tointerference plus noise ratio (SINR), and rise over thermal (ROT).

In this embodiment of the present invention, user equipment acquires astatus of using a target unlicensed frequency band by a target radioaccess technology RAT, and selects a different measurement modeaccording to the usage status to measure a radio condition of the targetunlicensed frequency band, so that the user equipment can accuratelymeasure the radio condition of the unlicensed frequency band, so as toprovide reference information for a network device to schedule the userequipment.

Referring to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a measurementmethod according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Inthis embodiment, a target radio access technology RAT is a cellularradio access technology RAT, and the method includes the followingsteps:

S201. User equipment receives measurement configuration information sentby a serving base station, and configures a first measurement mode and asecond measurement mode according to the measurement configurationinformation.

Specifically, the serving base station sends the measurementconfiguration information to the user equipment in a serving cell, wherethe measurement configuration information may be carried in a radioresource control connection reconfiguration message, and the measurementconfiguration information includes a mapping relationship between ameasurement mode and a usage status of a target unlicensed frequencyband. The mapping relationship is specifically: a state indicating thatthe target RAT already occupies the target unlicensed frequency band iscorresponding to the first measurement mode; and a state indicating thatthe target RAT does not occupy the target unlicensed frequency band iscorresponding to the second measurement mode. The first measurement modeindicates that the user equipment measures based on a synchronizationsignal, a reference signal, or system information, and the secondmeasurement mode indicates that the user equipment measures based on amethod such as physical measurement, spectrum analysis, or spectrumsensing for the target unlicensed frequency band. The user equipmentreceives the measurement configuration information sent by the servingbase station, and configures the first measurement mode and the secondmeasurement mode according to an instruction of the measurementconfiguration information. After completing a configuration operation,the user equipment sends a configuration complete message to the servingbase station.

S202. The user equipment receives a status indication message sent bythe serving base station, where the status indication message is used toindicate a status of using the target unlicensed frequency band by thetarget RAT.

Specifically, the serving base station probes, by using a spectrumsensing algorithm, the status of using the target unlicensed frequencyband by the target RAT. The serving base station loads the detectedusage status of the target unlicensed frequency band to the statusindication message, and sends the status indication message to the userequipment. For example, the serving base station may use a bitmap mannerto indicate the status of using the target unlicensed frequency band bythe target RAT, where “1” indicates that the target RAT already occupiesthe target unlicensed frequency band, and “0” indicates that the targetRAT does not occupy the target unlicensed frequency band. Alternatively,the usage status is indicated in another manner, which is not limited inthe present invention.

If the target RAT already occupies the target unlicensed frequency band,the serving base station sends a downlink synchronization signal, adownlink reference signal, or downlink system information on the targetunlicensed frequency band; or if the target RAT does not occupy thetarget unlicensed frequency band (the target RAT has released the targetunlicensed frequency band or another RAT occupies the target unlicensedfrequency band), the serving base station stops sending the downlinksynchronization signal, the downlink reference signal, or the downlinksystem information.

S203. The user equipment parses the status indication message, so as toobtain the status of using the target unlicensed frequency band by thetarget RAT.

Specifically, the user equipment receives the status indication messagesent by the serving base station, and by parsing the status indicationmessage, obtains the status of using the target unlicensed frequencyband by the target RAT.

Optionally, the user equipment may also detect, by itself, the status ofusing the target unlicensed frequency band by the target RAT, that is,the user equipment probes, by using the spectrum sensing algorithm, thestatus of using the target unlicensed frequency band by the target RAT.Specifically, the target RAT preconfigures a radio frame pattern for theuser equipment and the serving base station. For example, when thetarget RAT is an LTE radio access technology, a radio frame pattern witha length of 10 bits is preconfigured for the user equipment and theserving base station in LTE. It is assumed that the radio frame patternis based on a length of one radio frame, and the pattern is designed as“1111111110”, where a value “1” indicates that a corresponding subframemay be occupied by LTE, and a value “0” indicates that a correspondingsubframe may be not occupied by LTE. At a subframe “1” of the radioframe pattern, the user equipment starts to probe a status of using thetarget unlicensed frequency band by LTE. After an LTE reference signalis detected, it indicates that LTE already occupies the targetunlicensed frequency band indeed, and the user equipment learns that LTEno longer occupies the target unlicensed frequency band at a subframe“0”. At a subframe “1”, the serving base station probes the usage statusof the target unlicensed frequency band according to the same radioframe pattern. If another RAT does not occupy the target unlicensedfrequency band, the serving base station sends a downlinksynchronization signal, a downlink reference signal, or downlink systeminformation, and at a subframe “0”, stops sending the downlinksynchronization signal, the downlink reference signal, or the downlinksystem information. It may be understood that a length of the configuredradio frame pattern is not limited in the present invention, and forexample, the radio frame pattern may be designed based on two or moreradio frames.

S204. The user equipment determines whether the target RAT occupies thetarget unlicensed frequency band.

Specifically, the user equipment determines, according to the usagestatus acquired in S203, whether the target RAT occupies the targetunlicensed frequency band, and if yes, S205 is performed, or if no, S206is performed.

S205. Select the first measurement mode to measure a radio condition ofthe target unlicensed frequency band, where the first measurement modeindicates measurement performed based on a reference signal, asynchronization signal, or system information of the target RAT.

Specifically, the target RAT is the cellular radio access technology,and when the target RAT already occupies the target unlicensed frequencyband, the user equipment selects the first measurement mode to measure aradio condition of the target unlicensed frequency band on which theserving cell is carried. When the target RAT already occupies the targetunlicensed frequency band in a neighboring cell, and the user equipmentselects the first measurement mode to measure a radio condition of thetarget unlicensed frequency band on which the neighboring cell iscarried.

When measuring the radio condition of the target unlicensed frequencyband on which the serving cell is carried, the user equipment receives adownlink synchronization signal, a downlink reference signal, ordownlink system information sent by the serving base station in theserving cell, and measures according to the foregoing received signal.

When measuring an intra-frequency neighboring cell, the user equipmentcannot directly acquire a status of using the target unlicensedfrequency band by the target RAT in the neighboring cell. A method foracquiring the status of using the target unlicensed frequency band bythe target RAT in the neighboring cell may be as follows: A neighboringbase station probes the status of using the unlicensed frequency band bythe target RAT, and transmits the usage status to the serving basestation through a communications interface (for example, an X2interface), and the user equipment acquires the usage status by usingthe serving base station of the user equipment. The user equipmentselects a corresponding measurement mode according to the acquired usagestatus of the unlicensed frequency band in the neighboring cell tomeasure the radio condition of the target unlicensed frequency band onwhich the neighboring cell is carried. Specifically, if the target RATalready obtains the target unlicensed frequency band in the neighboringcell, the user equipment uses the first measurement mode to measure theradio condition of the target unlicensed frequency band in theneighboring cell; or if the target RAT does not obtain the targetunlicensed frequency band in the neighboring cell, the user equipmentuses the second measurement mode to measure the radio condition of thetarget unlicensed frequency band on which the neighboring cell iscarried. Preferably, the neighboring base station may announce, over aCPC channel, information about the usage status of the unlicensedfrequency band in the neighboring cell, and the user equipment reads theCPC channel, so as to obtain the status of using the target unlicensedfrequency band by the target RAT in the neighboring cell. Preferably,the serving base station and the neighboring base station may negotiatewith communications nodes of other RATs within a coverage area aboutoccasions for obtaining and releasing the target unlicensed frequencyband, so that the multiple communications nodes can use the targetunlicensed frequency band for communication in an orderly manner,thereby avoiding mutual interference. For example, when there are twocommunications nodes in a current environment, radio frames arerespectively configured for the foregoing communications nodes, wherethe radio frame includes a time period 1 and a time period 2. A firstcommunications node occupies the target unlicensed frequency band duringthe time period 1, and a second communications node occupies the targetunlicensed frequency band during the time period 2, so that whenmeasuring the serving cell and/or the neighboring cell, same userequipment switches between the first measurement mode and the secondmeasurement mode in a unanimous manner.

It may be understood that referring to FIG. 3, if occasions forobtaining and releasing an LTE spectrum by the serving base station andthe neighboring base station are different, and the user equipmentconfigures the first measurement mode and the second measurement mode inboth the serving cell and the neighboring cell, the user equipment mayneed to perform measurement in the first measurement mode andmeasurement in the second measurement mode at the same time during atime period, which therefore may cause relatively high overheads andprocessing complexity to measurement of the UE. To reduce overheads andprocessing complexity, the first measurement mode and the secondmeasurement mode for the serving cell may be configured for the sameuser equipment, while only the first measurement mode is configured forthe intra-frequency neighboring cell; or the first measurement mode isconfigured for the serving cell, while the first measurement mode andthe second measurement mode are configured for the intra-frequencyneighboring cell. Alternatively, the first measurement mode and thesecond measurement mode for the serving cell and the first measurementmode and the second measurement mode for the intra-frequency neighboringcell are respectively configured for different user equipments. Forexample, the first measurement mode and the second measurement mode onlyfor the serving cell are configured for UE1, and the first measurementmode and the second measurement mode only for the neighboring cell areconfigured for UE2. Optionally, the base station selects UEs that are insimilar radio environments and/or are close in geographic position tocomplete the foregoing measurement in collaboration. It should be notedthat when the user equipment needs to measure, in the second measurementmode, the unlicensed frequency band on which the serving cell is carriedand the unlicensed frequency band on which the intra-frequencyneighboring cell is carried, actually, the user equipment performs samemeasurement, that is, the measurement performed in the secondmeasurement mode based on the physical measurement, the spectrumanalysis, or the spectrum sensing for the unlicensed frequency band, andthe user equipment does not distinguish between measurement for theserving cell and measurement for the neighboring cell. When the userequipment measures for the intra-frequency neighboring cell in the firstmeasurement mode, the user equipment measures based on a referencesignal of the intra-frequency neighboring cell. However, acharacteristic of the reference signal of the intra-frequencyneighboring cell, for example, a sequence or a symbol location of thereference signal, is different from a characteristic of a referencesignal of the serving cell, and the user equipment may distinguishbetween the measurement for the serving cell and the measurement for theneighboring cell.

It may be understood that the serving base station may also configurethat the user equipment measures on an inter-frequency of the targetunlicensed frequency band in the first measurement mode and the secondmeasurement mode. The inter-frequency also belongs to the unlicensedfrequency band, and is not yet used by the serving base station as anoperating frequency band for the time being, but is used as a potentialcandidate frequency and may be subsequently configured for the userequipment as a new serving cell. The inter-frequency may also be used bythe neighboring base station as an operating frequency band. The servingbase station may probe by itself or receive a notification message fromthe neighboring base station, so as to learn whether the target RAToccupies the inter-frequency unlicensed frequency band, and notify theuser equipment, so that the user equipment measures on theinter-frequency unlicensed frequency band of the serving cell in thefirst measurement mode or the second measurement mode. The serving basestation may configure that the user equipment starts to measure theinter-frequency unlicensed frequency band of the target unlicensedfrequency band only when the radio condition of the target unlicensedfrequency band is lower than a preset threshold. The serving basestation may determine, according to a radio condition of theinter-frequency unlicensed frequency band, whether to configure theinter-frequency unlicensed frequency band for the UE as a new servingcell. The serving base station may determine, according to a comparisonbetween the radio condition of the target unlicensed frequency bandand/or the radio condition of the inter-frequency unlicensed frequencyband, whether to delete the serving cell on the target unlicensedfrequency band and newly configure a serving cell on the inter-frequencyunlicensed frequency band.

Optionally, in a 3GPP small cell enhancement (SCE) scenario, carrieraggregation may be performed between base stations. A master eNodeB(MeNB) provides a PCell and zero or more SCells, and a secondary eNodeB(SeNB) provides one or more SCells. If an uplink is configured for theSeNB, a PUCCH needs to be configured for at least one SCell of the SeNB,where the SCell is a primary serving cell of the SeNB. The MeNB and theSeNB communicate with each other by extending the X2 interface in theprior art, and generally, there may be a communication delay of morethan 5 ms, for example, a 20 ms one-way delay.

The SeNB may configure the first measurement mode and the secondmeasurement mode in the SeNB for the UE by using the unlicensedfrequency band. The SeNB may instruct the UE to switch between the firstmeasurement mode and the second measurement mode; or configure a radioframe pattern for the UE, so that the UE automatically detects anddetermines to use the first measurement mode or the second measurementmode. The UE reports a measurement result to the MeNB by using ameasurement report, so that the MeNB manages the SeNB, for example,determines to add a new SeNB and/or delete an old SeNB. Alternatively,the UE may report the measurement result to the SeNB, so that the SeNBmakes a scheduling decision, for example, adjusts an MCS for schedulingthe UE. Alternatively, after the UE reports the measurement result tothe MeNB, the MeNB forwards the measurement result to the SeNB throughthe X2 interface, so that the SeNB makes a scheduling decision.Alternatively, the MeNB, the SeNB, or the UE sends the measurementresult and/or decision information over the CPC channel, and theMeNB/SeNB/UE may learn information such as a spectrum status and a radiocondition by reading information on the CPC channel.

S206. Select the second measurement mode to measure a radio condition ofthe target unlicensed frequency band, where the second measurement modeindicates measurement performed based on spectrum analysis for thetarget unlicensed frequency band.

Specifically, the target RAT does not occupy the target unlicensedfrequency band, the user equipment cannot detect, in the serving cell orthe neighboring cell, the synchronization signal, the reference signal,or the system information sent by the target RAT, and the user equipmentmeasures the radio condition of the target unlicensed frequency band inthe second measurement mode.

S207. If a preset trigger condition is met, the user equipment reports ameasurement result including the radio condition to the serving basestation.

Specifically, the measurement configuration information further includesthe trigger condition, where the trigger condition is triggeringperiodically and/or triggering by an event. When determining that thepreset trigger condition is met, the user equipment reports the radiocondition obtained by means of measurement in the first measurement modeor the second measurement to the serving base station.

Optionally, the measurement configuration information further includesone or more of frequency information, a measurement parameter, a RATtype, a RAT index, and operator code.

Preferably, the user equipment performs filtering or averagingprocessing on radio conditions obtained by means of multiple times ofmeasurement in the first measurement mode or the second measurementmode, and reports the radio condition obtained after the filtering oraveraging processing to the serving base station. For example, when thetarget RAT is the LTE system, for RRM measurement in the firstmeasurement mode, a Layer 3 filtering manner defined in a 3GPP protocolTS 36.331 is as follows:F _(n)=(1−a)·F _(n-1) +a·M _(n)

The foregoing formula is used for Layer 3 filtering or averaging beforethe user equipment evaluates whether the measurement result meets thetrigger condition of reporting. Mn is a latest physical layermeasurement result, and Fn is a measurement result obtained after thefiltering or averaging. Fn−1 is a measurement result obtained after aprevious time of filtering or averaging. F0 is set to M1, and is thefirst physical layer measurement result. a=1/2^((k/4)), where k is afiltering coefficient, and a value of k varies with different samplingrates. With reference to this embodiment, for example, during LTEintra-frequency measurement, it is required that the foregoing Layer 3filtering or averaging is performed once every 200 ms, but during the200 ms, a measurement sample of the first measurement mode and ameasurement sample of the measurement mode 2 are included. When theforegoing formula is used to calculate the measurement result toevaluate whether a reporting criterion is met, only the measurementsample of the first measurement mode is evaluated and the measurementsample of the second measurement mode is ignored.

Optionally, a user in RRC_IDLE state may also perform the foregoingmeasurement and measurement reporting. A base station sends, in a cellcorresponding to a licensed spectrum of the base station, measurementconfiguration information of the first measurement mode and/or thesecond measurement mode on an unlicensed spectrum by using systeminformation broadcast (SIB). The UE in RRC_IDLE state that camps on theunlicensed spectrum reads the foregoing system information related tothe measurement configuration and measures the unlicensed spectrum. Whena measurement result of the first measurement mode and/or the secondmeasurement mode is higher than a preconfigured threshold, the UE maytrigger a random access process to connect to a cell and enterRRC_CONNECTED state, and report the measurement result to the basestation, so that the base station determines, according to a measurementreport, that the UE can be scheduled on the unlicensed spectrum.

Optionally, in RRC_IDLE state, the UE may perform measurement accordingto the measurement configuration of the first measurement mode and/orthe measurement mode, and record the measurement result by using a logperiodically or when the measurement result is higher or lower than thepreconfigured threshold, for example, record a radio condition and/orinterference information, and corresponding geographical positioninformation on the unlicensed spectrum. When entering RRC_CONNECTEDstate, the UE may directly send the foregoing log including themeasurement result to the base station, or after receiving indicationinformation from the base station, send the foregoing log to the basestation. The method may be applied to a measurement and reportingprocess related to Minimization of Drive Tests (MDT), so that anoperator collects a measurement map of a usage status of the unlicensedspectrum or the like more conveniently.

The serving base station determines a situation of an intra-system radiocondition and/or interference or inter-system interference at a celledge according to the measurement result, reported by the userequipment, of the first measurement mode or the second measurement modefor the intra-frequency neighboring cell, and performs correspondingprocessing for user equipment handover, serving cell power control, andinterference coordination or coordinated multipoint transmission whenthe serving cell and the intra-frequency neighboring base station useLTE. For example, when the intra-frequency neighboring cell operates inLTE mode, when a radio condition such as RSRP of the serving cell islower than a radio condition such as RSRP of the intra-frequencyneighboring cell by a specific threshold, the serving base stationinstructs the UE to be handed over to the intra-frequency neighboringcell. For another example, when the serving cell can operate in LTE modewith the intra-frequency neighboring cell, the serving cell and theintra-frequency neighboring cell operate in a time-division mode, so asto avoid interference to cell-edge UE. For example, the serving cell mayset an almost blank subframe (ABS) and notify the neighboring cell ofconfiguration information of the almost blank subframe, so that theneighboring cell can schedule the cell-edge UE in the ABS subframe, soas to avoid interference. In this case, the serving cell and theneighboring cell may also schedule the cell-edge UE in a coordinatedmultipoint transmission (CoMP) manner in a mode such as jointtransmission (JT) or dynamic point selection (DPS). For still anotherexample, when the serving cell operates in LTE mode, and a spectrumresource of the neighboring cell is occupied by an inter-system, theserving cell may determine, according to a measurement result, reportedby the UE, of inter-system interference of the neighboring cell, whetherto schedule the cell-edge UE or whether to adjust a modulation andcoding scheme (MCS).

In this embodiment of the present invention, user equipment acquires astatus of using a target unlicensed frequency band by a target radioaccess technology RAT, and selects a different measurement modeaccording to the usage status to measure a radio condition of the targetunlicensed frequency band, so that the user equipment can accuratelymeasure the radio condition of the unlicensed frequency band, so as toprovide reference information for a network device to schedule the userequipment.

Referring to FIG. 3, FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of userequipment according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Inthis embodiment, the user equipment includes: an acquiring module 10 anda measurement module 11.

The acquiring module 10 is configured to acquire a status of using atarget unlicensed frequency band by a target radio access technologyRAT.

Specifically, the user equipment supports at least one radio accesstechnology (RAT). For example, radio access technologies RATs includeany 2G, 3G, 4G, or higher generation communications technology such asan LTE radio access technology, a UMTS radio access technology, GSMradio access, or CDMA2000 radio access, and different variationsthereof, and any other radio access technologies that are set tointeract with such mobile communications technology.

The radio access technology may include a WLAN radio access technology,for example, a radio access technology of protocols in the IEEE 802.11family and a Bluetooth radio access technology; and may include a WiMaxradio access technology, for example, a radio access technology ofprotocols in the IEEE 802.16 family.

The target radio access technology RAT refers to a radio accesstechnology that currently uses the target unlicensed frequency band. Anunlicensed frequency band refers to a frequency band that is notallocated by a spectrum management authority to a designated radioaccess technology and that can be used by multiple radio accesstechnologies, which may include radio access technologies of a samepriority or radio access technologies of different priorities. Becausethe multiple radio access technologies can share the unlicensedfrequency band, before using the unlicensed frequency band, anylower-priority radio access technology needs to first probe whetheranother radio access technology occupies the unlicensed frequency band,and the unlicensed frequency band can be used for communication onlywhen the unlicensed frequency band is in an idle state. During thelower-priority radio access technology uses the unlicensed frequencyband, a higher-priority radio access technology can also seize theunlicensed frequency band, and a highest-priority radio accesstechnology can directly use the unlicensed frequency band. The targetunlicensed frequency band is a part of or the entire unlicensedfrequency band, and may include multiple frequency ranges. Differentfrequency ranges may be indicated by using channel numbers. A method forprobing the usage status of the unlicensed frequency band may be:probing by the user equipment, probing by a network device, probing incollaboration, which is not limited in the present invention. The userequipment acquires the status of using the target unlicensed frequencyband by the target radio access technology RAT, and the usage status isclassified into two types, where a first type of usage status is thatthe target RAT already occupies the target unlicensed frequency band,and a second type of usage status is that the target RAT does not occupythe target unlicensed frequency band. When the target RAT alreadyoccupies the target unlicensed frequency band, a network device of thetarget RAT sends characteristic information of the target RAT, forexample, a downlink synchronization signal, a downlink reference signal,a downlink pilot signal, a downlink beacon, or downlink systeminformation on the unlicensed frequency band, and user equipment thatsupports the target RAT detects the foregoing signal on the targetunlicensed frequency band. For example, when the target RAT is LTE, anLTE base station sends a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and asecondary synchronization signal (SSS), a cell-specific reference signal(CRS), a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), and/or ademodulation reference signal (DMRS). If the target RAT does not occupythe target unlicensed frequency band, a network device of the target RATdoes not send a synchronization signal, a reference signal, or systeminformation on the unlicensed frequency band, and the user equipmentcannot detect the foregoing signal either.

The measurement module 11 is configured to select a correspondingmeasurement mode according to the usage status to measure a radiocondition of the target unlicensed frequency band.

Specifically, a mapping table of a mapping relationship between ameasurement mode and a usage status is preconfigured for the userequipment, and in the mapping table, each type of usage status isassociated with at least one measurement mode. The user equipmentqueries the mapping table for the corresponding measurement modeaccording to the status that is of using the target unlicensed frequencyband by the target RAT and is acquired in S101, and measures the radiocondition of the target unlicensed frequency band.

A first measurement mode for measuring the radio condition of the targetunlicensed frequency band is based on the characteristic information ofthe target RAT. For example, when the target RAT is an LTE system,measurement performed by the user equipment based on a reference signalsuch as a CRS, a CSI-RS, and/or a DMRS of LTE may include radio resourcemanagement (RRM) measurement and channel state information (CSI)measurement. The RRM measurement may be measurement performed based onreference signal received power (RSRP) and reference signal receivedquality (RSRQ) of the CRS, the CSI-RS, and/or the DMRS. The CSImeasurement includes a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precodingmatrix indication (PMI), a rank indication (RI), and the like.

A second measurement mode for measuring the radio condition of thetarget unlicensed frequency band is related measurement or detectionthat is based on physical measurement, spectrum analysis, or spectrumsensing for the target unlicensed frequency band, for example,measurement such as physical layer energy detection, covariance matrixdetection, matched filtering detection, cyclostationary featuredetection, eigenvalue-based spectrum sensing, a received signal strengthindicator (RSSI), interference measurement, a signal-to-noise ratio(SNR), a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), and rise overthermal (ROT).

Referring to FIG. 4, FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of userequipment according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Inthis embodiment, in addition to including the acquiring module 10 andthe measurement module 11, the user equipment further includes aconfiguration module 12 and a reporting module 13.

The configuration module 12 is configured to receive measurementconfiguration information sent by the serving base station, andconfigure the first measurement mode and the second measurement modeaccording to the measurement configuration information.

The reporting module 13 is configured to: if a preset trigger conditionis met, report a measurement result including the radio condition to theserving base station.

Further, the acquiring module 10 includes a first acquiring unit 101and/or a second acquiring unit 102.

The first acquiring unit 101 is configured to receive status indicationinformation sent by the serving base station, where the statusindication information is used to indicate the status of using thetarget unlicensed frequency band by the target RAT; and parse the statusindication information, so as to obtain the status of using the targetunlicensed frequency band by the target RAT.

The second acquiring unit 102 is configured to specify a subframe in apreset radio frame, so as to detect the status of using the unlicensedfrequency band by the target RAT.

Further, the measurement module 11 includes a first measurement unit 111and a second measurement unit 112.

The first measurement unit 111 is configured to: if it is determinedthat the target RAT already occupies the target unlicensed frequencyband, select the first measurement mode to measure the radio conditionof the target unlicensed frequency band, where the first measurementmode indicates measurement performed based on a reference signal, asynchronization signal, or system information of the target RAT.

The second measurement unit 112 is configured to: if it is determinedthat the target RAT does not occupy the target unlicensed frequencyband, select the second measurement mode to measure the radio conditionof the target unlicensed frequency band, where the second measurementmode indicates measurement performed based on physical measurement,spectrum analysis, or spectrum sensing for the target unlicensedfrequency band.

Preferably, the first measurement unit 111 is configured to: select thefirst measurement mode to measure the radio condition of the targetunlicensed frequency band of a serving cell and/or a neighboring cell,where frequencies of the serving cell and the neighboring cell are thetarget unlicensed frequency band.

Preferably, the reporting module 13 is configured to perform filteringor averaging processing on radio conditions obtained by means ofmultiple times of measurement in the first measurement mode or thesecond measurement mode, and report the radio condition obtained afterthe filtering or averaging processing to the serving base station.

This embodiment and the second method embodiment are based on a sameconception, and technical effects brought by this embodiment of thepresent invention and the second method embodiment are also the same.For details, refer to the descriptions of the second method embodiment,and details are not described herein again.

Referring to FIG. 5, FIG. 8 is another schematic structural diagram ofuser equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention. Theuser equipment includes a processor 61, a memory 62, an input apparatus63, and an output apparatus 64, where the user equipment may include oneor more processors 61, and one processor is used as an example in FIG.5. In some embodiments of the present invention, the processor 61, thememory 62, the input apparatus 63, and the output apparatus 64 may beconnected by using a bus or in another manner, and a connection by usinga bus is used as an example in FIG. 7.

The memory 62 stores a set of program code, and the processor 61 isconfigured to invoke the program code stored in the memory 62 to performthe following operations: acquiring a status of using a targetunlicensed frequency band by a target radio access technology RAT; andselecting a corresponding measurement mode according to the usage statusto measure a radio condition of the target unlicensed frequency band.

Further, that the processor 61 performs the step of selecting acorresponding measurement mode according to the usage status to measurea radio condition of the target unlicensed frequency band includes: ifit is determined that the target RAT already occupies the targetunlicensed frequency band, selecting a first measurement mode to measurethe radio condition of the target unlicensed frequency band, where thefirst measurement mode indicates measurement performed based on areference signal, a synchronization signal, or system information of thetarget RAT; or if it is determined that the target RAT does not occupythe target unlicensed frequency band, selecting a second measurementmode to measure the radio condition of the target unlicensed frequencyband, where the second measurement mode indicates measurement performedbased on physical measurement, spectrum analysis, or spectrum sensingfor the target unlicensed frequency band.

Further, the target RAT is a cellular radio access technology, and thatthe processor 61 performs the step of selecting a first measurement modeto measure the radio condition of the target unlicensed frequency bandincludes: selecting the first measurement mode to measure the radiocondition of the target unlicensed frequency band of a serving celland/or a neighboring cell, where frequencies of the serving cell and theneighboring cell are the target unlicensed frequency band.

Further, that the processor 61 performs the step of acquiring a statusof using a target unlicensed frequency band by a target RAT includes:receiving status indication information sent by a serving base station,where the status indication information is used to indicate the statusof using the target unlicensed frequency band by the target RAT; andparsing the status indication information, so as to obtain the status ofusing the target unlicensed frequency band by the target RAT; orspecifying a subframe in a preset radio frame, so as to detect thestatus of using the unlicensed frequency band by the target RAT.

Further, the processor 61 is further configured to perform: if a presettrigger condition is met, reporting a measurement result including theradio condition to the serving base station.

Further, the serving base station is a secondary eNodeB SeNB, and thatthe processor 61 performs the step of reporting a measurement resultincluding the radio condition to the serving base station includes:reporting, by the user equipment, the measurement result including theradio condition to the SeNB, so that the SeNB reports the measurementresult to a master eNodeB MeNB to which the SeNB belongs.

Further, that the processor 61 performs the step of reporting ameasurement result including the radio condition to the serving basestation includes: performing filtering or averaging processing on radioconditions obtained by means of multiple times of measurement in thefirst measurement mode or the second measurement mode, and reporting theradio condition obtained after the filtering or averaging processing tothe serving base station.

Referring to FIG. 9, FIG. 9 is a schematic flowchart of a measurementconfiguration method according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention. In this embodiment, the method includes the following step.

S301. A network device sends measurement configuration information touser equipment, where the measurement configuration information is usedto instruct the user equipment to configure a first measurement mode anda second measurement mode.

Specifically, the network device sends the measurement configurationinformation to user equipment within a coverage area, and themeasurement configuration information may be carried in a radio resourcecontrol connection reconfiguration message. The measurementconfiguration information includes a mapping relationship between ameasurement mode and a usage status of a target unlicensed frequencyband. The mapping relationship is specifically: a state indicating thatthe target RAT already occupies the target unlicensed frequency band iscorresponding to the first measurement mode; and a state indicating thatthe target RAT does not occupy the target unlicensed frequency band iscorresponding to the second measurement mode. The first measurement modeindicates that the user equipment measures based on a synchronizationsignal, a reference signal, or system information, and the secondmeasurement mode indicates that the user equipment measures performedbased on physical measurement, spectrum analysis, or spectrum sensingfor the target unlicensed frequency band. The user equipment receivesthe measurement configuration information sent by a serving basestation, and configures the first measurement mode and the secondmeasurement mode according to an instruction of the measurementconfiguration information. After completing a configuration operation,the user equipment sends a configuration complete message to the networkdevice.

The measurement configuration information further includes one or moretypes of frequency information, a measurement parameter, a RAT type, aRAT index, and operator code.

Referring to FIG. 10, FIG. 10 is a schematic flowchart of a measurementconfiguration method according to a second embodiment of the presentinvention. In this embodiment, the method includes the following steps:

S401. A network device sends measurement configuration information touser equipment, where the measurement configuration information is usedto instruct the user equipment to configure a first measurement mode anda second measurement mode.

S402. The network device measures a status of using a target unlicensedfrequency band by a target RAT.

S403. The network device sends status indication information to the userequipment, where the status indication information is used to indicatethe status of using the target unlicensed frequency band by the targetRAT.

Specifically, the network device probes, by using a spectrum sensingalgorithm, the status of using the target unlicensed frequency band bythe target RAT. The network device loads the detected usage status ofthe target unlicensed frequency band to the status indication message,and sends a status indication message to the user equipment.

S404. The network device receives a measurement result that includes aserving cell and a neighboring cell and that is reported by the userequipment, and schedules the user equipment according to the measurementresult.

A serving base station determines a situation of an intra-system radiocondition and/or interference or inter-system interference at a celledge according to the measurement result, reported by the userequipment, of the first measurement mode or the second measurement modefor an intra-frequency neighboring cell, and performs correspondingprocessing for user equipment handover, serving cell power control, andinterference coordination or coordinated multipoint transmission whenthe serving cell and an intra-frequency neighboring base station useLTE. For example, when the intra-frequency neighboring cell operates inLTE mode, when a radio condition such as RSRP of the serving cell islower than a radio condition such as RSRP of the intra-frequencyneighboring cell by a specific threshold, the serving base stationinstructs the UE to be handed over to the intra-frequency neighboringcell. For another example, when the serving cell can operate in LTE modewith the intra-frequency neighboring cell, the serving cell and theintra-frequency neighboring cell operate in a time-division mode, so asto avoid interference to cell-edge UE. For example, the serving cell mayset an almost blank subframe (ABS) and notify the neighboring cell ofconfiguration information of the almost blank subframe, so that theneighboring cell can schedule the cell-edge UE in the ABS subframe, soas to avoid interference. In this case, the serving cell and theneighboring cell may also schedule the cell-edge UE in a coordinatedmultipoint transmission (CoMP) manner in a mode such as jointtransmission (JT) or dynamic point selection (DPS). For still anotherexample, when the serving cell operates in LTE mode, and a spectrumresource of the neighboring cell is occupied by an inter-system, theserving cell may determine, according to a measurement result, reportedby the UE, of inter-system interference of the neighboring cell, whetherto schedule the cell-edge UE or whether to adjust a modulation andcoding scheme (MCS).

Optionally, if the network device determines that the target RAT alreadyoccupies the target unlicensed frequency band, the network deviceinstructs the user equipment to select the first measurement mode tomeasure a radio condition of the target unlicensed frequency band; or ifthe network device determines that the target RAT does not occupy thetarget unlicensed frequency band, the network device instructs the userequipment to select the second measurement mode to measure a radiocondition of the target unlicensed frequency band.

Optionally, if the network device determines that the target RAT alreadyoccupies the target unlicensed frequency band, the network devicemeasures the radio condition of the target unlicensed frequency bandbased on an uplink reference signal of the user equipment. For example,when the target RAT is an LTE radio access technology, the networkdevice measures the radio condition of the target unlicensed frequencyband according to a sounding reference signal (SRS) or a demodulationreference signal DMRS sent by the user equipment.

If the network device determines that the target RAT does not occupy thetarget unlicensed frequency band, the network device measures the radiocondition of the target unlicensed frequency band based on physicalmeasurement, spectrum analysis, or spectrum sensing for the targetunlicensed frequency band.

Referring to FIG. 11, FIG. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of anetwork device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Inthis embodiment, the network device includes: a first module 20,configured to send measurement configuration information to userequipment, where the measurement configuration information is used toinstruct the user equipment to configure a first measurement mode and asecond measurement mode.

Further, referring to FIG. 12, in addition to including the first module20, the network device further includes a second module 21, a thirdmodule 22, a fourth module 23, and a fifth module 24.

The second module is configured to: measure a status of using a targetunlicensed frequency band by a target RAT; and send status indicationinformation to the user equipment, where the status indicationinformation is used to indicate the status of using the targetunlicensed frequency band by the target RAT.

The third module is configured to: if it is determined that the targetRAT already occupies the target unlicensed frequency band, instruct theuser equipment to select the first measurement mode to measure a radiocondition of the target unlicensed frequency band; or if it isdetermined that the target RAT does not occupy the target unlicensedfrequency band, instruct the user equipment to select the secondmeasurement mode to measure a radio condition of the target unlicensedfrequency band.

The fourth module is configured to: if it is determined that the targetRAT already occupies the target unlicensed frequency band, measure theradio condition of the target unlicensed frequency band based on anuplink reference signal of the user equipment; or if it is determinedthat the target RAT does not occupy the target unlicensed frequencyband, measure the radio condition of the target unlicensed frequencyband based on physical measurement, spectrum analysis, or spectrumsensing for the target unlicensed frequency band.

The fifth module, configured to: receive a measurement result thatincludes radio conditions of a serving cell and a neighboring cell andthat is reported by the user equipment, and schedule the user equipmentaccording to the measurement result.

Referring to FIG. 13, FIG. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of anetwork device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.The network device includes a processor 71, a memory 72, an inputapparatus 73, and an output apparatus 74, where the network device mayinclude one or more processors 71, and one processor is used as anexample in FIG. 13. In some embodiments of the present invention, theprocessor 71, the memory 72, the input apparatus 73, and the outputapparatus 74 may be connected by using a bus or in another manner, and aconnection by using a bus is used as an example in FIG. 13.

The memory 72 stores a set of program code, and the processor 71 isconfigured to invoke the program code stored in the memory 72 to performthe following operation: sending measurement configuration informationto user equipment, where the measurement configuration information isused to instruct the user equipment to configure a first measurementmode and a second measurement mode.

Further, the processor 71 is further configured to perform: measuring astatus of using a target unlicensed frequency band by a target RAT; andsending status indication information to the user equipment, where thestatus indication information is used to indicate the status of usingthe target unlicensed frequency band by the target RAT.

Further, the processor 71 is further configured to perform: if it isdetermined that the target RAT already occupies the target unlicensedfrequency band, instructing the user equipment to select the firstmeasurement mode to measure a radio condition of the target unlicensedfrequency band; or if it is determined that the target RAT does notoccupy the target unlicensed frequency band, instructing the userequipment to select the second measurement mode to measure a radiocondition of the target unlicensed frequency band.

Further, the processor 71 is further configured to perform: if it isdetermined that the target RAT already occupies the target unlicensedfrequency band, measuring the radio condition of the target unlicensedfrequency band based on an uplink reference signal of the userequipment; or if it is determined that the target RAT does not occupythe target unlicensed frequency band, measuring the radio condition ofthe target unlicensed frequency band based on physical measurement,spectrum analysis, or spectrum sensing for the target unlicensedfrequency band.

Further, the processor 71 is further configured to perform: receiving ameasurement result that includes radio conditions of a serving cell anda neighboring cell and that is reported by the user equipment, andscheduling the user equipment according to the measurement result.

Referring to FIG. 14, FIG. 14 is a flowchart of interworking of acommunications system according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention. The interworking includes the following steps.

S501. A network device sends measurement configuration information touser equipment, and the network device configures two measurement modesfor the user equipment (certainly, there may be more measurement modes),where each measurement mode is indicated by using a corresponding indexvalue, and the network device may configure the measurement mode byusing a radio resource control connection reconfiguration (RRCConnection Reconfiguration) message.

For example, in an LTE radio access technology, LTE obtains a spectrumresource in a secondary serving cell SCell on an unlicensed spectrum, areference signal exists in the SCell, for example, a primarysynchronization signal (PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal(SSS), a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), a channel stateinformation-reference signal (CSI-RS), and/or a demodulation referencesignal (DMRS).

After LTE releases the spectrum resource in the SCell on the unlicensedspectrum according to a spectrum specification and a measurement statusof the network device and/or the user equipment, the foregoing signalssuch as the PSS/SSS, the CRS, and the CSI-RS no longer exist in theSCell, and a frequency corresponding to the SCell is occupied by aninter-system that shares the unlicensed spectrum, such as WiFi, or is inan idle state.

A first measurement mode indicates that the user equipment measuresbased on a reference signal of LTE, for example, the CRS, the CSI-RS,and/or the DMRS, and may include radio resource management (RRM)measurement and channel state information (CSI) measurement.

The RRM measurement may be measurement performed based on referencesignal received power (RSRP) and reference signal received quality(RSRQ) of the CRS, the CSI-RS, and/or the DMRS. The CSI measurementincludes a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrixindication (PMI), a rank indication (RI), and the like.

A second measurement mode indicates that the user equipment measuresbased on physical layer energy detection, covariance matrix detection),matched filtering detection, cyclostationary feature detection,eigenvalue-based spectrum sensing, a received signal strength indicator(RSSI), interference measurement, a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), asignal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), and rise over thermal(ROT). Because there is no LTE reference signal on the frequencycorresponding to the SCell, the foregoing measurement performed by theUE may not rely on the LTE reference signal.

The foregoing measurement configuration information for the firstmeasurement mode and the second measurement mode may further include ameasurement object. For example, the measurement object is informationsuch as a frequency, a measurement value (for example, RSRP and physicallayer energy), a trigger condition of measurement reporting (forexample, triggering periodically or triggering by an event), a thresholdfor starting/stopping measurement, and a threshold for measurementreporting.

S502. The user equipment receives the measurement configurationinformation from the network device, configures the foregoing relatedparameters according to the measurement configuration information, andsends a response message to the network device after completingconfiguration; for example, the response message may be a radio resourcecontrol connection reconfiguration complete (RRC ConnectionReconfiguration Complete) message.

S503. LTE obtains a spectrum resource in an SCell on an unlicensedfrequency band, and the network device sends synchronization signal,reference signal, and the like related to LTE and described in S501, andsends a cell enabling (cell on) indication, a synchronization indication(sync indication), and/or measurement mode indication information to theuser equipment.

S504. The user equipment performs, according to the indicationinformation and measurement configuration of the network device,measurement in a first measurement mode described in S501, anddetermines, according to a measurement reporting trigger condition,whether to report a measurement result to the network device, where theuser equipment may report the measurement result to the network deviceby using a primary serving cell PCell, or report the measurement resultto the network device by using the SCell when the SCell obtains thespectrum resource.

S505. LTE releases a spectrum resource in the SCell on the unlicensedspectrum according to a spectrum specification and a measurement statusof the network device and/or the user equipment, and the network devicestops sending the synchronization signal, the reference signal, and thelike related to LTE and described in S501, and sends a cell disabling(cell off) indication, a spectrum release indication (spectrum releaseindication), and/or measurement mode indication information ormeasurement mode switching indication information to the user equipment.

S506. The UE performs, according to the indication information and themeasurement configuration information of a base station, physical layerenergy detection, RSSI measurement, and/or the like corresponding to asecond measurement mode described in S501, and determines, according tothe measurement reporting trigger condition, whether to report ameasurement result to the network device.

A person of ordinary skill in the art may understand that all or some ofthe steps of the method embodiments may be implemented by a programinstructing relevant hardware. The program may be stored in a computerreadable storage medium. When the program runs, the steps of the methodembodiments are performed. The foregoing storage medium includes: anymedium that can store program code, such as a ROM, a RAM, a magneticdisk, or an optical disc.

The embodiments of the present invention are described in detail above.The principle and implementation of the present invention are describedherein through specific examples. The description about the embodimentsof the present invention is merely provided to help understand themethod and core ideas of the present invention. In addition, persons ofordinary skill in the art can make variations and modifications to thepresent invention in terms of the specific implementations andapplication scopes according to the ideas of the present invention.Therefore, the content of specification shall not be construed as alimit to the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving, by a terminal device, measurement configuration information from a base station, wherein the measurement configuration information indicates to the terminal device to configure a first measurement mode and a second measurement mode, wherein the first measurement mode is usable to perform measurement based on a synchronization signal or a reference signal, and the second measurement mode is usable to perform a received signal strength indicator measurement; and performing, by the terminal device, measurement using the first measurement mode or the second measurement mode.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first measurement mode is usable to measure a radio condition of an unlicensed frequency band when a first radio access technology occupies the unlicensed frequency band.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the reference signal is a channel state information reference signal or a demodulation reference signal.
 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second measurement mode is usable for measuring a radio condition of an unlicensed frequency band when a first radio access technology does not currently occupy the unlicensed frequency band.
 5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: acquiring a result of whether an unlicensed frequency band is currently occupied by a first radio access technology; selecting the first measurement mode to measure a radio condition of the unlicensed frequency band in response to the result indicating that the first radio access technology currently occupies the unlicensed frequency band; and selecting the second measurement mode to measure the radio condition of the unlicensed frequency band in response to the result indicating that the first radio access technology does not currently occupy the unlicensed frequency band.
 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein acquiring the result of whether the unlicensed frequency band is currently occupied by the first radio access technology comprises: receiving status indication information from the base station, wherein the status indication information indicates a current status of use of the unlicensed frequency band by the first radio access technology; or specifying a subframe in a radio frame to use to detect the current status of using the unlicensed frequency band by the first radio access technology.
 7. An apparatus, comprising: a non-transitory memory storing program instructions; and at least one processor coupled to the memory, wherein the program instructions are executable by the at least one processor to: receive measurement configuration information from a base station, wherein the measurement configuration information indicates to the apparatus to configure a first measurement mode and a second measurement mode, wherein the first measurement mode is usable to perform measurement based on a synchronization signal or a reference signal, and the second measurement mode is usable to perform a received signal strength indicator measurement; and perform measurement by using the first measurement mode or the second measurement mode.
 8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the first measurement mode is usable for measuring a radio condition of an unlicensed frequency band when a first radio access technology occupies the unlicensed frequency band.
 9. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the reference signal is a channel state information reference signal or a demodulation reference signal.
 10. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the second measurement mode is usable for measuring a radio condition of an unlicensed frequency band when a first radio access technology does not occupy the unlicensed frequency band.
 11. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the program instructions are executable by the at least one processor to: acquire a result of whether an unlicensed frequency band is currently occupied by a first radio access technology; select the first measurement mode to measure a radio condition of the unlicensed frequency band in response to the result indicating that the first radio access technology currently occupies the unlicensed frequency band; and select the second measurement mode to measure the radio condition of the unlicensed frequency band in response to the result indicating that the first radio access technology does not currently occupy the unlicensed frequency band.
 12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the program instructions are executable by the at least one processor to: receive status indication information from the base station, wherein the status indication information indicates a current status of using the unlicensed frequency band by the first radio access technology; or specify a subframe in a radio frame to use to detect the current status of using the unlicensed frequency band by the first radio access technology.
 13. An apparatus, comprising: a non-transitory memory storing program instructions; and at least one processor coupled to the non-transitory memory, wherein the program instructions are executable by the at least one processor to: send measurement configuration information to a terminal device, wherein the measurement configuration information is usable by the terminal device to configure a first measurement mode and a second measurement mode, wherein the first measurement mode is usable to perform measurement based on a synchronization signal or a reference signal, and the second measurement mode is usable to perform a received signal strength indicator measurement; and receive a measurement result from the terminal device.
 14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the first measurement mode is usable for measuring a radio condition of an unlicensed frequency band when a first radio access technology currently occupies the unlicensed frequency band.
 15. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the reference signal is a channel state information reference signal or a demodulation reference signal.
 16. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the second measurement mode is usable for measuring a radio condition of an unlicensed frequency band when a first radio access technology does not currently occupy the unlicensed frequency band.
 17. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the program instructions for executable by the at least one processor to: send a current status of an unlicensed frequency band used by a first radio access technology to the terminal device.
 18. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the program is executable by the at least one processor to: determine a situation of an intra-system radio condition or inter-system interference according to the measurement result. 